Chris Candito

Christopher Candito (March 21, 1972 – April 28, 2005) was an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Chris Candido. Throughout most of his career, he was accompanied by his high school sweetheart Tammy Lynn Sytch, though despite a long-term relationship, the two were never legally married.

Candido held major titles in Extreme Championship Wrestling, the National Wrestling Alliance, World Championship Wrestling, and the World Wrestling Federation. His highest-profile role was in the World Wrestling Federation as Skip, part of the successful tag team known as The Bodydonnas with Zip, and his girlfriend and valet Sunny.

Candito was the grandson of "Popeye" Chuck Richards, a wrestler for the World Wide Wrestling Federation, a precursor to the WWF. He started training at age 14 with Larry Sharpe and wrestled for Sharpe's World Wrestling Association. He began using the alternate spelling of Candido for his ring name.

While in high school, he met and fell in love with Tammy Sytch, and the two began a lifelong relationship. Sytch would later become his valet.

In the early 1990s, Candido was a part of Eastern Championship Wrestling (later Extreme Championship Wrestling). While in ECW, he was part of a stable called The Suicide Blonds with Johnny Hotbody and Chris Michaels. The trio had two stints as the Tag Team Champions; the first from April 2, 1993 to May 15 after winning them from Tony Stetson and Larry Winters. They lost the titles to the Super Destroyers, only to regain them the same day. They later vacated the titles when Candido left the promotion.

Candido became famous in Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW), alongside his manager and girlfriend Tammy Lynn Sytch.

On November 19, 1994, Candido won a 10-man tournament, defeating Al Snow, Dirty White Boy, and Tracy Smothers to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, which had been won and immediately vacated by Shane Douglas and ECW that August.

Candido's reign came at a time when national exposure for the National Wrestling Alliance was at an all-time low, as there was no national television outlet for the organization. His title defense matches were mostly held in small independent federations and SMW. Candido dropped the belt to Dan Severn on February 24, 1995, whose subsequent reign lasted over four years.

Candido and Sytch moved on to the WWF where Sytch was dubbed Sunny and Candido Skip, the fitness fanatics The Bodydonnas. On March 31, 1996, Candido won the WWF Tag Team Championship with Zip (Tom Prichard) from The Godwinns during the finals of a tournament for the vacated titles. However, they lost the titles on May 19, 1996 at a house show. According to Tammy Sytch in interviews post Candido's death, Candito and Sytch had a brief separation behind the scenes while working for the WWF.

After leaving the WWF, Candido joined ECW again, becoming part of the revived Triple Threat stable alongside Shane Douglas. While in the Triple Threat, he developed a rivalry with fellow member Lance Storm, who was soon replaced by Bam Bam Bigelow. However, Candido teamed with Storm to win the ECW Tag Team Championship. They won the tag titles on December 5, 1997 from Doug Furnas and Phil Lafon. Despite being a reluctant team who hated each other, Candido and Storm had a lengthy championship run. The duo held the titles for approximately six months until they lost them on June 26, 1998 against Rob Van Dam and Sabu.

He also had a brief run in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), which started when he was cleared to compete on March 16, 2000. During his stint there, he won the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. He won the title on April 16, 2000 in a six-way match at Spring Stampede 2000 against The Artist, Juventud Guerrera, Shannon Moore, Lash LeRoux, and Crowbar. He lost the title on May 15 of that same year. Later, the Triple Threat reformed in WCW, with Candido, Douglas, and Bam Bam Bigelow. However, the reformation was short lived, after Tammy was released from WCW due to backstage problems with Kimberly Page.

Candido had two runs with Xtreme Pro Wrestling. The first was in 2000, and he won the XPW World Heavyweight Championship before leaving for WCW. The second run was from late 2002 until the company's final show in 2003.

Candido wrestled with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in early 2005, until he died from a post-surgery blood clot. Due to the fact that his last performance was taped to air later in the week, he was featured on an episode of TNA iMPACT! after his death.

In addition to wrestling, Candido also trained new wrestlers, including his brother Johnny Candido.

Mike Awesome, part 1

Mike Lee Alfonso (January 24, 1965 – February 17, 2007) better known by his ring name Mike Awesome, was an American professional wrestler best known in America for his work in ECW, WCW, and in WWE and also in Japan for his work with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling under the name The Gladiator. Throughout his career, he was known for being exceptionally agile for his size.

Alfonso grew up with Michael Bollea. As a result of Awesome's aunt (his father's sister) marrying Hulk Hogan's brother, Awesome and Bollea (the future Horace Hogan) were cousins and the two began to consider a career in wrestling during Hulk Hogan's famous WWF run in the 1980s. Alfonso received training from Steve Keirn's training camp based out of the Pro Wrestling Federation (PWF). After wrestling for the PWF in 1989, teaming occasionally with Brett Sawyer, Alfonso moved around throughout various independent promotions, including a brief stint in the United States Wrestling Association (USWA) under the tutelage of Nate The Rat, a manager there. In that same year, he made his first television appearance for World Championship Wrestling -- as a masked jobber from San Juan, Puerto Rico named The Pro.

Early 1980s: "Big Mike" graduated from King High School in Tampa and worked out at the infamous Stan's Gym on 56th Street. He exuded energy and had an aggressive sense of humor, the baseline of his career to come. Mike was known to say "I can’t see him, but I can smell the smallness". His work ethic made him a fixture and standout at the hardcore bodybuilding cauldron.

Alfonso moved on to Japan, joining Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) in late 1990 and using the name The Gladiator.

In 1993, Alfonso appeared in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) for a short period (as "Awesome" Mike Awesome) before returning to FMW. In 1994, the Gladiator finally captured his first title, teaming with Big Titan to defeat Atsushi Onita & Katsutoshi Niyama in the finals of the FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship Tournament. They lost the title that April, but Awesome won them again with new partner Mr. Pogo in October. As the Gladiator, he faced and defeated Hayabusa for his first major singles title, the FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship in September of 1995, but was forced to vacate it due to (legit) injury the next February. In May of 1996 he won the title for a second time, then unified it with the FMW Independent Heavyweight Championship after defeating W*ING Kanemura in that December. The next August, teaming with Hisakatsu Ooya & Mr. Gannosuke he won the vacated FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag-Team Titles, holding all three belts at once, but within a month lost all three during an epic feud with Masato Tanaka.

Awesome was involved in a backstage altercation with members of a Yakuza group at an FMW event, as a result of several Yakuza members beating up his friend and fellow wrestler Sabu. As a result, Awesome, along with the rest of the foreign wrestlers, didn't leave their locker room for over two hours, because Yakuza members were waiting in the hallway. It took Atsushi Onita to smooth things over with the group and get the foreign wrestlers safe passage out of the arena.

In the summer of 1998, Awesome began appearing for ECW again, continue his feud with Masato Tanaka in the United States. Awesome began in ECW by losing to Tanaka on an episode ECW's weekly Hardcore TV. However, following the match, he delivered an Awesome Bomb to Tanaka over the top rope through a table set up on the outside. In his final appearance of his second ECW stint, Awesome lost to Tanaka again at the August Heat Wave pay-per-view event (which Awesome claimed he was never paid for).

After returning to Japan, Alfonso seriously injured his knee during a match with Super Leather, taking him out of wrestling for nearly a year. When he returned, he continued to wrestle as The Gladiator for a brief period in All Japan Pro Wrestling before returning to ECW. Almost immediately upon arriving in ECW for his third stint, he shocked the wrestling world by winning the ECW World Heavyweight Championship at Anarchy Rulz by defeating the reigning champion Tazz and arch nemesis Masato Tanaka in a three-way dance, which was signed on the spot.

Road Warrior Animal, Joe Laurinaitis, part 2

The Road Warriors immediately signed with the WWF in 1990 and were pushed into a feud with the most famous of all “Road Warrior Clones”, Demolition (which once again included their old training partner Barry Darsow). Due to the ailing health of one of Demolition (Ax) he was replaced by Crush but the magic of the original Demolition was gone and the feud did not live up to the high hopes of the fans.

Just over a year after signing with the WWF, the Legion of Doom won the WWF World Tag Team Titles and held them for about 8 months. When they lost the titles, they briefly left the WWF only to return with long time manager Paul Ellering by their side, as well as a wooden dummy called “Rocco”. Both members of the L.O.D. thought the gimmick was stupid, and it led to Hawk quitting the WWF, leaving Animal on his own for the first time in 9 years.Animal teamed with former enemy turned “face” Crush for a while but before the team could make any kind of progress, Animal legitimately injured his back and was forced into retirement late in 1992.

For the next couple of years, Animal stayed out of the wrestling ring, collecting on a very lucrative insurance policy from Lloyd's of London while Hawk competed all over the world. Near the end of 1995, Animal's back had finally recovered enough for him to return to active competition. Three years after everyone thought the Road Warriors had ended, they reunited and signed a contract with World Championship Wrestling. Upon their debut in 1996, they immediately started a feud with the Steiner Brothers and Harlem Heat, before moving on to challenge the WCW Tag Team Champions Sting & Lex Luger. The Road Warriors had several shots at the champions but never won the titles in the 6 months they were with the company.

After leaving WCW they returned to the WWF where the Legion of Doom took part in the Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. the Hart Foundation feud, siding with Austin against the Harts. The Legion of Doom also became 2 time tag team champions on October 7, 1997 when they defeated The Godwinns. In November 1997, the Legion of Doom faced the newly formed New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg and Billy Gunn) and lost the titles to the upstart team.

After several unsuccessful challenges the L.O.D. were repackaged as Legion of Doom 2000 with manager Sunny, although she did not stay with the team for long.

In 1998, the Legion of Doom became involved in their most controversial angle to date, playing off Hawk’s real life drug and alcohol problems. Hawk started to show up drunk or “unable to perform” on TV (according to the storyline). As Hawk proved more and more erratic and unreliable, a third L.O.D. member, Puke, was introduced to team with Animal while Hawk dealt with his personal issues. The storyline ended with accusations that “Puke” had been the "enabler" of Hawk's problems, exploiting them to take Hawk’s place in the team. During this segment, Hawk infamously was shown to have fallen off the Titan Tron. It was a controversial segment that pushed the envelope of good taste and that was the hallmark of the WWF's "Attitude" era. Neither Hawk nor Animal approved of the WWF exploiting Hawk’s personal problems, essentially making light of them by turning it into a storyline and left the WWF.

While the Road Warriors never officially broke up, Animal started making an increasing number of solo appearances after they left the WWF as Hawk struggled with drug and alcohol addiction.

Animal landed a prominent position in WCW as the “Enforcer” of the stable known as The Magnificent Seven with the objective to protect WCW World Champion Scott Steiner. Animal most likely landed the high-profile part thanks to his brother John who had a powerful behind-the-scenes role with the company. The Magnificent Seven split up shortly before Vince McMahon purchased WCW, Animal’s contract was not one of the contracts the WWF picked up.


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Road Warrior Animal, Joe Laurinaitis, part 1

Joseph "Joe" Laurinaitis (born January 26, 1960) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Road Warrior Animal. Along with Road Warrior Hawk, Laurinaitis was one-half of the tag team known as the Road Warriors

Joe Laurinaitis grew up in Minnesota, having to work for a living from a very early age. Because of his size and love of power lifting, Joe was an imposing figure and thus a very effective bouncer. He worked as a bouncer at Grandma B's in the Twin Cities where he caught the eye of Eddie Sharkey, a well known wrestling trainer. Sharkey thought that Joe along with Mike Hegstrand, Richard Rood, and Barry Darsow could make it big in professional wrestling. He believed in them so much that he trained all four of them personally.

Joe made his debut in November 1982, competing as The Road Warrior using a biker gimmick. After only a few matches as a singles competitor, Joe’s career and life would change forever thanks to an idea by Paul Ellering.

When Paul Ellering was looking to put together a stable of heels in Georgia Championship Wrestling called The Legion of Doom, it was decided to put Joe together with his good friend Mike Hegstrand and change their names to Animal and Hawk respectively. Thus, the Road Warriors were born. To look more intimidating, the two shaved their heads into Mohawks and started wearing studded dog collars, spiked shoulder pads, and face paint. The look and name was taken from Mad Max 2, helping to paint the two as no-mercy monsters. Their interview style was vicious, yet charismatic and a bit humorous.

The team was an instant hit, revolutionizing the tag-team scene with their power moves, no mercy attitudes, and innovative face paint that would spawn many future imitators in wrestling. In Georgia, they won the NWA National Tag Team Championship four times before moving on to bigger promotions, such as the American Wrestling Association in the US and All Japan Pro Wrestling in Japan, and winning more tag team titles.

Their hard hitting style, no nonsense attitude, and winning ways made the Road Warriors fan favorites. Even when they were booked as heels, the fans refused to boo them. They started to split their time between the AWA and the National Wrestling Alliance until finally leaving the AWA for big money contracts with the NWA and a huge push for the monster duo. The move paid off instantly as they won the inaugural Jim Crocket Sr. Memorial Cup Tag-Team Tournament and feuded with the top stars of the NWA such as The Four Horsemen and the Russian Team (which included the Road Warriors’ old training buddy Barry Darsow). During their initial run in the NWA, they helped popularize the WarGames match, the Scaffold match, and their trademark Chicago Street Fight.

In 1988, the Road Warriors engaged in a violent feud with The Powers of Pain (The Barbarian and The Warlord) the first team that could truly match the Road Warriors in power (and who were one of the most well known Road Warrior clones). The Powers of Pain even went so far as to injure Animal’s eye (kayfabe) during a weightlifting competition. When Animal returned, he initially wore a hockey goalie mask to protect his eye. The angle abruptly ended when the Powers of Pain left the NWA after finding out they were booked against the Road Warriors in a series of Scaffold Matches and they did not want to get hurt by falling off the scaffold.

Near the end of 1988, the Road Warriors captured the NWA World Tag Team Championship from The Midnight Express whom they mauled in short order to win the titles. After being the “Uncrowned champions” for a long time the Road Warriors’ run with the tag-team titles was short lived. Teddy Long used a fast count to cheat the Road Warriors out of their titles. In their last year with the NWA, the Warriors feuded mainly with The Varsity Club, The Samoan Swat Team, and The Skyscrapers before leaving the NWA in the summer of 1990.


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Frank Andersson

Frank Andersson (born May 9, 1956 in Trollhättan) is a Swedish former wrestler, most active around 1975 to 1983. In the World Championships, he won three gold medals and two silver ones. He won a bronze at the 1984 Summer Olympics. During his career as an amateur wrestler, Andersson was awarded the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal in 1977.

Andersson wrestled professionally in WCW in the early 1990s.

He has a son, Isak, who was born in 1996 and a daughter, Anna Mira Amanda who was born in June 2006.


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Brian 'Crush' Adams Autopsy Results

Brian 'Crush' Adams Autopsy Results

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -Former pro wrestler Brian "Crush'' Adams died last month after accidentally ingesting a lethal mixture of prescribed medications, the medical examiner's office said Friday.

The 44-year-old Tampa resident died Aug. 13 from mixing a strong painkiller with muscle relaxants and two different types of sedatives, said Dr. Leszek Chrostowski from the Hillsborough County medical examiner's office.

Chrostowski said he found "therapeutic levels'' of each of the drugs in his system, but the mixture slowed his respiratory system enough to kill him.

There were no anabolic steroids in Adams' body, a report from the office said.

The drugs that killed Adams included buprenorphine, an opiate-based painkiller that Chrostowski said is often used like methadone in the treatment of painkiller addiction; carisoprodol, a muscle relaxant; and sedatives chlordiazepoxide and alprazolam.

Adams wasn't breathing when his wife found him unconscious in their home.

A former world tag team champion, Adams last performed for the World Wrestling Federation in 2001 and served intermittently on the roster beginning in 1990, World Wrestling Entertainment said. He wrestled his last match in January 2003 when a spinal injury forced him into retirement.

Adams' death came less than two months after pro wrestler Chris Benoit killed his wife and son before hanging himself on the cable of a weight machine in his Georgia home. Prescription anabolic steroids were found in the Benoit family's home, raising questions about whether the drugs played a role in the killings.

Bradley "Brad" Anderson

Bradley "Brad" Anderson (born December 24, 1969) is an American professional wrestler and is the son of wrestler Gene Anderson.

Brad Anderson started wrestling in 1988 after being trained by his father, Gene Anderson, and Nelson Royal.

He wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance's (NWA) Jim Crockett Promotions under his real name and as the masked Zan Panzer and Agent Steele. He wrestled in the Pacific Northwest territory and formed a tag team with Ricky Santana that won the tag team titles.

He went to Puerto Rico's World Wrestling Council in late 1991 and feuded with Santana over the Junior Heavyweight Title.

Brad once wrestled a match on WWF Monday Night Raw on January 10, 1994. He was defeated by Ludvig Borga.

In 2004, he was part of a tag team called "Triple X" in NWA Mid-Atlantic with Drake Dawson and manager Strawberry Fields.

He has never made much of an impact and has left the sport at times over the years to work construction and a salon business.

In 2005, he started touring the independents in North and South Carolina.

WCW: Arn Anderson

Martin "Marty" Lunde, better known by his ring name of Arn Anderson (born September 20, 1958 in Rome, Georgia), is a retired American professional wrestler, regarded by some professional wrestling experts as the greatest professional wrestler never to have won a world title. His career has been highlighted by his alliances with Ric Flair and various members of the elite wrestling stable, "The Four Horsemen". He currently serves as the senior Producer for WWE's RAW brand.

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WWE to bring back Robert Gibson?????

WWE has actually been thinking about bringing back Robert Gibson, member of the legendary Rock 'N Roll Express. Gibson, who is currently an assistant trainer in Ohio Valley Wrestling, would return as an active wrestler. He has been working in OVW since December of last year. If he is brought back in, he would be used how Dave Taylor is used, helping the younger stars get the basic wrestling moves down. Gibson who is 49 years old is said to be in good shape. Gibson was last seen in TNA in 2003 as a part of Vince Russo's stable.
http://www.wrestlezone.com/article.php?articleid=190858742

Ruben Cain (born July 19, 1958) is a professional wrestler best known by his ring name of Robert Gibson. He is famous as half of the Rock 'N Roll Express with Ricky Morton.

Ruben Cain started wrestling as Robert Gibson in 1977. He was trained by his brother Ricky Gibson and teamed with Ricky in the southern independents when he started.

In 1983, he formed the Rock 'N Roll Express with Ricky Morton. They feuded with The Midnight Express, Bobby Eaton and Dennis Condrey in the Mid-South and the feud carried over into the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions in 1985. They won the NWA Tag Titles four times while there and feuded with the Four Horsemen, Ivan and Nikita Koloff and the team of Rick Rude and Manny Fernandez. Even though he and Morton were of similar build and wrestled a similar style, Gibson was always booked as the stronger and more powerful of the two. He was most often the recipient of the hot tag as Morton rallied the crowd by taking punishment as the Face in Peril.

Gibson was injured in 1991 and when he returned to WCW, Morton turned on him to join the "York Foundation". They feuded and Gibson teamed with Tom Zenk, but had no success and soon left WCW. He rejoined Morton in Smoky Mountain Wrestling and they feuded with the "Heavenly Bodies" led by Jim Cornette. Shortly before SMW's demise, Gibson turned heel and joined "Cornette's Army".

The team came back briefly to WCW in 1996. In 1998, they were part of the "NWA" angle in the WWF for a brief period. Their last run in a big federation was with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling when they were part of Vince Russo's Sports Entertainment Xtreme faction.

On September 15, 2006, his brother, Ricky Gibson, died.

In December 2006, Gibson became an assistant trainer for "Ohio Valley Wrestling".

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WCW: Chris Adams

Christopher Adams (February 10, 1955 – October 7, 2001) was a professional wrestler, wrestling promoter, trainer and judoka. By the time Adams was 21 years old, he had won three British National Judo Championships for his age and weight. Adams wrestled primarily in the Texas promotions, most notably for World Class Championship Wrestling, where he became one of the most popular wrestlers in the promotion's history.

Adams is well known for being one of the trainers of Scott Hall in 1984 and training Stone Cold Steve Austin on his own in 1989. He also is credited for bringing the Superkick to American wrestlers. Adams was also among the first wrestlers to use the Sharpshooter, which he called the Superlock (around 1985). He was also famous for using back flips and somersaults to catch his opponent off-guard. Moreover, Adams was known for diving from the canvas through the ropes to his opponent on the floor, one of the few wrestlers to execute this dangerous maneuver.

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"Crush" Brian Adams dead at 43

CANOE -- SLAM! Sports - Wrestling - "Crush" Bryan Adams dead at 43: "According to WWE.com, Brian Adams, who worked as Demolition Crush and was half of the KroniK tag team, has been found dead. He was 43. A Tampa Police Department report obtained by TMZ.com indicated that Adams 'was found by his wife unconscious in bed not breathing.' She called 911, but medical personal were unable to revive him. He was pernounced dead at the scene. No reason for his death was noted in the report."

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WCW: Brian Adams

Brian Adams (born April 14, 1964) is a former actor and professional wrestler. Adams gained fame in the 1990s while performing for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the name Crush and for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under his given name.

Trained in Japan by Antonio Inoki, Adams is a two time WCW World Tag Team Champion as well as a one time holder of both the WWF World Tag Team Championship and the All Japan Pro Wrestling World Tag Team Championship among other titles and accomplishments.

In 2002, Adams briefly tried a career in boxing until he was forced to retire due to a back and shoulder injury.

Brian Adams was born on April 4, 1964 in Kona, Hawaii and was raised in Kealakekua, Hawai'i and attended Konawaena High School. After graduating from Konawaena High School Adams joined the military. It was during his time in the military, while stationed in Japan, that he was exposed to wrestling. Adams was then trained in wrestling by famed Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist Antonio Inoki. In 1986, after training in Japan, Adams came to the United States and began working in Portland, Oregon's Pacific Northwest Wrestling (PNW).

Adams signed with World Championship Wrestling (WCW), in 1998, where he was placed as part of the New World Order stable and later as part of it’s off-shoot nWo Hollywood. As a lower card performer, he often tag teamed with the likes of Scott Norton and Stevie Ray, occasionally being placed in squash matches against smaller and lesser known wrestlers. One of his most notable matches with the promotion was his involvement in a tag team tournament steel cage match on WCW Thunder, in February 1999, where he and Horace Hogan lost to Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko.

Later, he was scripted as the original Demon, a take off of Gene Simmons of the band KISS. This saw him emerging from an iron maiden with a rendition of "God of Thunder" as his entrance theme. The gimmick did not work for Adams as he made only one appearance as the Demon. Dale Torborg took over that gimmick, while Adams was placed back into tag wrestling again. He formed a team with Bryan Clark called KroniK, where he won the WCW World Tag Team Championship twice.

Abdullah the Butcher, part 2

In addition to his successes in North America, Abdullah the Butcher would also become a true international superstar while performing in the Far East, Europe, the Caribbean, Australia, Africa, and practically everywhere else across the globe. On March 12, 1974, he traveled all the way to New Zealand, where he captured the prestigious British Empire Commonwealth Title by defeating the nation’s legendary champion John DaSilva. Furthermore, Abdullah would also establish himself among the premier attractions in Japan, where he competed as part of the round-robin tournament that ultimately crowned Giant Baba as All-Japan’s inaugural PWF Heavyweight Champion in February 1973. On October 18, 1978, Abdullah himself won the prestigious PWF belt when he defeated European legend and former AWA champion Billy Robinson; and then on October 13, 1980, he also beat Jumbo Tsuruta to capture the NWA United National Heavyweight Title. His feud with Terry Funk is still considered one of the hottest feuds in Japan, and Funk claims to have a personal top 3 all time greatest match with Abdullah the Butcher. Shreve is almost always paired with a manager (most notably "Playboy" Gary Hart in Texas, Georgia, and Florida, and Hugo Savinovich in Puerto Rico) and never speaks in U.S. territories. He has spoken in Japanese interviews, where promos aren't as important to get a wrestler over.

He arrived in World Class in 1986, where he subsequently defeated the Great Kabuki for the Texas Brass Knuckles Title while waging war against the equally wild Bruiser Brody. However, perhaps Abby’s most memorable encounters occurred in Puerto Rico, where he was billed as the very first WWC Universal Heavyweight Champion in July 1982 following three reigns as the Puerto Rican Champion between 1978-81. His violent battles against Carlos Colón and Hércules Ayala are legendary; and he still remains one of the area’s top attractions, as he recently defeated Carly Colón for his fifth Universal Title on January 3, 2004.

He was introduced in World Championship Wrestling in a giant, gift-wrapped box. This giant box was to be Sting's birthday gift from Cactus Jack. Sting unwrapped his gift and it turned out to be Shreve, leading to both feuding with Sting after the incident, culminating in a "Chamber of Horrors" match at Halloween Havoc 1991, in which Cactus accidentally "electrocuted" Abdullah in an electric chair. Afterwards, he had a brief feud with his old ally, Cactus Jack, in 1992.

Abdullah’s reputation as the most sadistic and bloodthirsty hardcore wrestler in history has established a legacy far greater than any single championship ever could. In addition, his dietary habits have also become the stuff of legend, as he has been known to eat announcer’s ties, whole raw fish, and he once even bit the head off a live chicken before a traumatized crowd! Moreover, his unpredictable, ultra-violent style is largely responsible for inspiring a future generation of wrestling madmen, including “Maniac” Mark Lewin, Kevin Sullivan, Cactus Jack, Kamala, and Sabu, among others; and at almost 70 years old, he still continues to compete on the independent circuit after a career that has now spanned six decades.

Abdullah worked in nearly every major wrestling promotion in the world, except WWE, but never stayed in one place for very long. He has also taken part of Juggalo Championship Wrestling owned by the Insane Clown Posse. Even at his age, he still makes wrestling appearances and still works matches as brutal as he did in his youth accompanied by his signature fork.

Besides wrestling, Shreve owns two restaurants in southwest Atlanta called "Abdullah the Butcher's House of Ribs and Chinese Food." Shreve is often onhand to meet fans and sign autographs, and the restaurant has become something of a local attraction. Shreve and his restaurant make a cameo appearance in the music video for the song "Damn!" by Atlanta recording artists Youngbloodz. Shreve's restaurant was also referenced in the 2006 Film "ATL" during a scene where the character Ant (Played by Evan Ross) and two friends argue over local BBQ. This year the WWC's Aniversary show will be dedicated to the Butcher's legacy and contributions to WWC.

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Abdullah the Butcher, part 1

Larry Shreve (Born Lawrence Shreve on November 2, 1936), best known as Abdullah the Butcher, and also at times the Madman from Sudan, is a professional wrestler. He is known as one of the most brutal professional wrestlers of all-time.

Despite wrestling folklore, Abdullah the Butcher does not truly hail from the arid desert of the Sudan, as he was actually born Lawrence Shreeve in Windsor, Ontario on November 2, 1936. He grew up in Canada as part of a family of ten in a deeply poor household, though he managed to learn karate and judo as a youth, eventually earning the title of seventh-degree grandmaster.

Standing 6’1” and weighing a robust 360 pounds, Shreeve was eventually spotted by Montreal promoter Jack Britton, and he soon made his professional ring debut at age 22 in 1958. He initially competed in numerous independent territories north of the border while performing under such various monikers as Pussycat Pikens, Kuroi Jujutsushi (The Black Wizard) and Zeras Amala. However, he ultimately created his legendary gimmick of an evil Arabian sadist; and in a match against Gino Brito (Jack Britton’s real-life son), Abdullah the Butcher first distinguished himself as one of the world’s most feared rulebreakers when he broke a chair over his opponent’s head and then proceeded to beat him senseless with the leg.

Such acts of violence were only the beginning for the terrifying Abdullah the Butcher, whose menacing figure, excessive violence, and complete disregard for the safety of himself or his opponents quickly established his well-deserved reputation for ruthless brutality. Abdullah’s matches almost always degenerated into bloodbaths, and he was infamous for stabbing his opponent’s wounds with his trademark fork (or any other foreign weapon that he could get his hands on at the moment). In addition to his insanely hardcore style, Abdullah the Butcher was revolutionary in that he would never stay in any one territory for too long so as to maintain the novelty and incredible notoriety of his character. By constantly roaming from region to region, Abdullah positioned his reputation as the most violent wrestler in the world. Consequently, he was often brought into a territory as a hired gun to destroy a popular fan favorite, and his appearances usually sparked local interest since he was always such a huge drawing card. As a result, Abdullah thus engaged in crimson-soaked carnages against some of the sport’s greatest legends, including The Original Sheik, Buddy Rogers, Bobo Brazil, Bruiser Brody, Carlos Colón, Dusty Rhodes, Andre the Giant, Harley Race, Terry Funk, and “The Mongolian Stomper” Archie Gouldie, among others. Moreover, since his gimmick required that he speak no English (even though it was his native tongue in actuality), he possessed an extraordinary number of managers over the course of his long career, including Gary Hart, Paul Jones, Eddie Creatchman, Black Baron, the Grand Wizard, J.J. Dillon, Damian Kane, Larry Sharpe, Oliver Humperdink, George Cannon, Bearcat Wright, Big Bad John, and Rock Hunter, who were all portrayed as “handlers” commissioned to control the Sudanese madman while doing most of the talking in interviews. Furthermore, Abdullah would often bloody his opponents with foreign objects that he concealed in his pants. He frequently used a fork as his trademark weapon.

As a result of his frequent traveling, Abdullah the Butcher usually served as more of a special hardcore attraction than as a consistent championship contender. Accordingly, Abdullah never did win the World Heavyweight Championship, though he would nevertheless capture a myriad of regional titles during his legendary career. He won his first major championship on October 23, 1967 when he teamed with Dr. Jerry Graham to defeat John & Carlos Tolos for the NWACanadian Tag Team Titles in Vancouver. A few years later, he ventured to the Montreal region, where he secured three reigns as the IWA International Heavyweight Champion between 1969-72 while feuding against Ivan Koloff and Johnny Rougeau. He later served as one of the premier rulebreakers in Calgary’s Stampede territory, capturing the NWA Canadian Championship as well as six North American Heavyweight Titles during the early 1970’s while battling the likes of Archie Gouldie, Jerry Christy, and Sweet Daddy Siki. Before long, Abdullah the Butcher was also established as a well-known villain in the U.S.; and on June 24, 1972, he defeated Ernie Ladd in Akron, Ohio to capture the first of two eventual NWF World Heavyweight Titles. During the mid-1970’s, he also frequently performed in Detroit’s Big-Time Wrestling territory, where he engaged in a classic rivalry against local legend, the Sheik. Moreover, he also teamed with “Killer” Tim Brooks to win the region’s version of the NWA World Tag Team Titles before he then defeated Bobo Brazil on February 8, 1975 for the NWA United States Championship.

"Tank" Abbott

David Lee "Tank" Abbott (born April 26, 1965 in Huntington Beach, California) is an American mixed martial artist. He has described his fighting style, which he developed fighting on the streets of Huntington Beach, California, as "street fighting." In addition to being a mixed martial arist, Abbott wrestled professionally between 1999 and 2001 under the ring name Tank Abbott.
Abbott worked as a professional wrestler with World Championship Wrestling (WCW); initially he was brought in as an opponent for Goldberg, on the understanding he was a "legitimate" fighter - who could render any opponent unconscious with a single punch, which became his wrestling finisher, 'The Phantom Right' - and could boost Goldberg's reputation. This feud never developed, and Abbott remained mostly a comedic wrestler, frequently being featured in segments with the boy band parody stable, Three Count. The most success he had in his wrestling career was when he teamed with Rick Steiner to feud with Scott Steiner. He also nicknamed the head of WCW security, Doug Dillinger, "Mr. Smiley," and would make quacking noises at him. Many wrestling fans consider his career irreparably damaged after he jobbed to actor (and then WCW Champion) David Arquette, losing by pinfall. Recently, he signed on to be with the WWE Classic Superstar Action Figure line set to be released in July 2007. He says his favorite wrestling game is WCW/nWo Revenge for the n64.

His bad boy image and tough biker look have led many people to believe that Abbott is nothing more than a common hoodlum with a natural ability to throw punches. In reality, he never practiced any style called "Pit Fighting" and had been boxing for up to 13 years before his UFC debut and had been wrestling since high school and during his years at college. He had been coached in boxing under Jesse Reid and Tyrone Bennett and his wrestling career began at the age of 9 and by the age of 18 he became a Junior college All-American. He is also an educated man, holding a degree in history.

Abbott was the UFC fighter who appeared on the TV show Friends, fighting (and beating) Jon Favreau's character, the millionaire Pete Becker, who was dating Monica at the time. In Pete's own words he suffered "a torn rotator cuff, a hairline fracture in my right forearm, and a severely bruised Adam's Apple." Tank has also appeared on an episode of Kenan and Kel, where he swore to get revenge on Kenan for sending him to prison. His character's name was John "The Jackhammer" Rogan.

In 2003, Abbott performed a 600 pound bench press which was recorded on video. It is alleged the press was improperly done because the barbell bounced off Abbott's chest, alleviating part of the force needed to lift the weight up. Abbott responded to this claim during an interview, highlighting the ridiculousness of someone "bouncing" 600 pounds of weight off their chest without sustaining massive injury.

technorati tags: wcw, ecw, eddie guerrero, pro wrestling, wrestlemania, hulk hogan, ric flair, booker t, tna

Super Calo

Name Super Calo
Real name Rafael García
Nicknames El Rapero (The rapper)
Name history El Greco Jr. (debut - ??), El Hijo de Superzán (90 - 91?),El Diabólico Chucky (91 - 92), Super Caló (05/92 - ), Love Warrior (96 - 97)
Family Bello Greco (father), Alan & Chris Stone (brothers)
Trained by: Bello Greco, Pepe Casas
Birth date February 22, 1971 - Guadalajara, Mexico
Wrestling Debut August 5, 1990 - Arena San Juan Pantitlán - Mexico City
Height 5'8"/173 cms
Weight 192 lbs/87 kg
Signature moves Top-Rope Headscissors, Tope Con Giro, Flying Dropkick, Slingshot somersault senton plancha
Titles: Distrito Federal Trios Titles (w/ Alan & Chris Stone), Aztecas Middleweight Title

Rafael García (born February 22, 1971) is a Mexican professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Super Calo. A longtime mainstay of Asistencia Asesoría y Administración during the 1990s, he also competed in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW).

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ,PWI ranked him # 273 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003

Calo's brother Chris Stone may have worked under the Super Calo name in 2005 when he jumped to AAA. Chris jumped back to CMLL a few months later, and Calo was last reported retired and not living in Mexico, so it's unclear who's currently using the name and image.

http://www.luchawiki.org/index.php?title=Super_Cal%C3%B3

technorati tags: wrestling,pro wrestling,wrestling news,pro wrestling news, professional wrestling,lucha libre,lucha libre aaa,lucha libre mask

WCW: Kevin Sullivan, part 2

Kevin Sullivan went to the ECW in early 1993 and teamed with Tasmaniac (Tazz) . Along with with Devil Angel, who was now called Woman, they won the ECW Tag Team Wrestling Titles and then feuded with "Public Enemy" Johnny Grunge and Rocco Rock. Sullivan had a bloody feud with Abdullah The Butcher. In the spring of 1994, Sullivan left Woman behind and headed to WCW.

In WCW, he formed a tag team with his kayfabe brother Dave Sullivan, a dyslexic character who referred to himself as "Evad" who was being picked on by The Nasty Boys .Kevin enlisted Cactus Jack's help and beat the Nasty Boys for the ECW Tag Team Titles. Dave was injured and out of action for awhile and Sullivan split with Cactus Jack after losing the titles. Kevin later defeated Cactus in a Loser Leaves WCW Match at Fall Brawl on September 18, 1994.

Dave came back and dressed like his idol, Hulk Hogan.( Can you say Eugene?) This infuriated Sullivan, who hated Hogan, and so the two "brothers" began feuding. Sullivan brought in Hogan's best friend, Ed Leslie, as The Butcher to feud with him. He also brought in Avalanche calling themselves 3 Faces of Fear. They feuded with Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage and Sting.

Early in 1995 , after not being able to end Hogan's career, Avalanche left the group and Sullivan turned on Butcher. Sullivan started putting together a new group with the help of his mentor, The Master. They called it the Dungeon of Doom. It was a huge stable and included Kamala, The Barbarian, Meng, Manager Jimmy Hart, Shark (formerly Avalanche), Zodiac (formerly Butcher, formerly Brutus Beefcake), Yeti, Hugh Morrus, One Man Gang and for a very short time, Vader and Big Bubba Rogers.

During this time, Sullivan began calling himself the Taskmaster. Four Dungeon of Doom members lost to The Hulkamaniacs in a WarGames match at September's Fall Brawl. As a result of Hulk Hogan's win over Zodiac, he got to spend five minutes alone with The Taskmaster. The Dungeon started a feuded with the Four Horsemen, and Sullivan acquired a certain disliking for Brian Pillman.

Once Sullivan had sent Pillman packing, the Dungeon and the Four Horsemen rejoined forces to get rid of Hogan and his friends. They brought in The Giant ( Paul Wight) , Maxx Muscle and Big Bubba Rogers. They formed the Alliance To End Hulkamania with the Horsemen in a failed attempt to do so. When they couldn't get the job done, Sullivan and Chris Benoit of the Horsemen picked up where Pillman left off and started a feud. This was a brutal feud and lasted over a year, with Benoit "stealing" Woman from Sullivan in the course of the feud. Sullivan brought in Jacquelyn to help him and also added Konnan to the Dungeon.

At Bash at the Beach on July 13, Sullivan lost a retirement match to Benoit. Kevin was already the booker so it gave him more time to do his job. Sullivan stayed on as the booker or a member of the WCW booking committee and made a brief onscreen appearance with the reformed Varsity Club of Rotunda and Rick Steiner with their cheerleader, Leia Meow. After a couple of months, he was back off TV.

Sullivan was among those blamed for the 2000 departure of Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero and Perry Saturn from WCW, though by no direct action of his own. After the departure of Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo, the resulting chaos led to Sullivan's promotion to head booker. This move angered a number of WCW wrestlers, given Sullivan's history of professional rivalries (notably Benoit) and poor decisions. At Souled Out 2000, Sullivan booked Benoit to win the WCW title in a desperate attempt to quell the uprising, but Benoit, Malenko, Guerrero and Saturn would quit the night after, immediately signing with the WWF. Sullivan would be fired before WCW's sale in 2001.

Sullivan makes occasional appearances on the independent circuit, mainly in Florida. He owns a gym in the Florida Keys called Froggy's Fitness.

In 1985, Sullivan married Nancy Daus (née Toffoloni), his valet. In the mid-1990s, Sullivan, the then WCW booker, scripted a storyline in which Daus would leave him in favor of his on-screen rival, Chris Benoit. During the execution of the storyline, Daus legitimately left Sullivan in favour of Benoit, divorcing Sullivan in 1997 and marrying Benoit in 2000. Insiders would say that Sullivan booked his own divorce.

Between June 22 and June 25, 2007, Benoit allegedly murdered Daus and their son, Daniel, before committing suicide. Following the incident, Sullivan expressed shock at Benoit's actions, stating "I'm in the dark...I wrestled with him a lot. I thought he was a great performer...it was shocking, just shocking."
On June 28, 2007, FOX News noted in an article on the incident that Sullivan had links to both Benoit and Sherri Martel, who had died earlier that month.

Source:
http://www.answers.com/topic/kevin-sullivan-wrestler

technorati tags: wcw, ecw, kevin sullivan, pro wrestling, wrestlemania, wcw,fallen angel,woman,sherri martel

WCW: Kevin Sullivan, part 1

http://www.borntoride.com/hottv.html

Kevin Francis Sullivan (born October 26, 1949) is an American professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known for his feuds with the "American Dream" Dusty Rhodes and Mike Graham in the NWA's Florida Championship Wrestling, and against Chris Benoit and the Four Horsemen in World Championship Wrestling.

Sullivan started wrestling in October 1970 in Georgia. Since 1972 he was a face and teamed with Mike Graham in Championship Wrestling from Florida.

In 1976, he wrestled briefly for the World Wrestling Federation.

In 1981, he turned on Graham and started a feud. For the next few years, he was known as a Satan-worshipping heel in Florida Championship Wrestling & Southwest Championship Wrestling.

He had a stable of wrestlers and valets to help him with his nefarious doings. The Fallen Angel was his female sidekick who was evil but had model-quality looks. The "Fallen Angel" later became "Woman". Some of his male sidekicks were "Maniac" Mark Lewin,(AKA The Purple Haze), "Maniac" Mike Davis (who was put under a "spell" to act like Dusty Rhodes), Jake Roberts, Superstar Billy Graham, Buzz Sawyer (whom he led to the ring on a chain), Maha Singh, Karma, Winona Littleheart and Luna Vachon. Oliver Humperdink managed them. They feuded with Dusty Rhodes, Bugsy McGraw, Blackjack Mulligan, Barry Windham and Mike Graham.

This group broke up by 1986, and he feuded with Bad News Allen and Mike Rotunda. Sullivan spent from September to December in 1986 feuding with Brad and Steve Armstrong in Alabama's NWA Southeastern Championship Wrestling.

He was back in Florida in 1987 and feuding with Lex Luger and Scott Hall. After a brief face run in which he feuded with Dory Funk Jr. and Sir Oliver Humperdink, he left NWA Florida for the main NWA circuit in December 1987.

Sullivan formed The Varsity Club upon arrival in the NWA with Mike Rotunda and Rick Steiner. They immediately started feuding with Jimmy Garvin because Sullivan wanted his wife Precious for himself. This feud lasted a while with Sullivan "breaking" Garvin's leg at one point.

Steiner left the group and was replaced by "Dr. Death" Steve Williams and Dan Spivey. They feuded with Dusty Rhodes, the Road Warriors, Rick Steiner and Eddie Gilbert. Sullivan even attacked Gilbert's wife Missy Hyatt. By late 1989, the Varsity Club was gone, and Sullivan formed Slaughterhouse with Cactus Jack and Buzz Sawyer to feud with Rotunda.

Sullivan took time off in late 1990 and returned in early 1991 as the manager of One Man Gang, Black Blood, and the Angel of Death. They cut El Gigante's hair and had a brief feud. Sullivan also was the masked Merlin the Wizard briefly to manage Oz.

In 1992, Sullivan went to Smoky Mountain Wrestling and reunited with Fallen Angel, now called Devil Angel. He feuded with Brian Lee and managed the Nightstalker.

Source:
http://www.answers.com/topic/kevin-sullivan-wrestler

Wrestler Chris Benoit Is Found Dead With Wife, Son

Wrestler Chris Benoit Is Found Dead With Wife, Son (Update1)

By Erik Matuszewski

June 26 (Bloomberg) -- Professional wrestler Chris Benoit, his wife and 7-year-old son were found dead in their Georgia home yesterday, said local law enforcement officials.

The death of the 40-year-old wrestler, a former heavyweight champion once known as the ``Canadian Crippler,'' and his family is being investigated as a murder-suicide, police said. The Associated Press today reported that Benoit strangled his wife, smothered his son and hanged himself, citing a law enforcement official that it didn't identify.

full story at:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=aAXMP3EEsTKg&refer=canada


technorati tags: chris benoit,nancy daus, murder, suicide

WCW: Bill Dannenhauer/Dave Sullivan/The Equalizer

Bill Dannenhauer was a professional wrestler better known as Dave Sullivan or The Equalizer.

Bill Danenhauer started out in college football as the Offensive Coordinator at Washburn University. He met Harley Race and decided to become a professional wrestler.

He started wrestling in 1990 as The Equalizer in the National Wrestling Alliance's (NWA) Pacific Northwest Wrestling territory. He teamed with The Grappler as "The Wrecking Crew" and feuded with John Nord and Scott Norton. They then won the Pacific Northwest Tag Team title twice before he and Grappler split and feuded, with Equalizer assuming the babyface role as PNW fans rooted for him against Grappler.

He left for the Global Wrestling Federation where he wrestled as Captain Ron in 1992.

In 1993 he joined World Championship Wrestling, and teamed briefly with Rick Rude as his tag team partner/bodyguard. They feuded with Dustin Rhodes and the Road Warriors. He also teamed with Paul Orndorff.

His biggest push started in the summer of 1994 when he became Dave Sullivan or "Evad" (His gimmick was that he was dyslexic.), the brother of Kevin Sullivan. He was being picked on by The Nasty Boys and brought Kevin in to help him against them. He was injured by them, so Sullivan brought in Cactus Jack to help them out. After Kevin & Jack took care of The Nasty Boys, they split up, and Jack left. Hulk Hogan made his WCW debut that summer, and Dave became his biggest fan. Kevin hated Hogan, and problems started brewing.

Dave started teaming with Hogan and Sting against Ric Flair and his henchmen, and Kevin soon turned on Dave, which started a feud that went into 1995. After his feud with Kevin ended, Dave fell in love with Kimberly, the valet for Diamond Dallas Page (This was before it was known that DDP & Kimberly were married in real life.). DDP took offense to this and started a feud with Dave that lasted all summer. During this feud, Dave gave Kimberly presents, which infuriated DDP even more. Dave eventually lost the feud and moved on.

His next feud was with Big Bubba Rogers. Dave had a pet rabbit that he brought to ringside with him, and Bubba was allergic to rabbits. Bubba started wearing a surgical mask to keep from inhaling the germs, but Dave would always pull it off and get the victory.

Danenhauer left WCW in early 1996 after participating in the first WCW World War 3 event.

He wrestled in the independents under his original ring name The Equalizer until retiring in 2003 to become a football coach at Dana College in Blair, Nebraska.

technorati tags: wcw, ecw, eddie guerrero, pro wrestling, wrestlemania, hulk hogan, ric flair, booker t, tna